Electrical connectors include various parts or components, such as, but not limited to housings, terminals and retention members. In various applications, such as for use in that aerospace or defense industries, it is often desirable or required that once the components of the connector are assembled, the components cannot be taken apart or removed. In order to ensure that the components are permanently retained in the housing, adhesive is applied to retain the components in the housing. However, the application of the adhesive is costly and adds additional steps to the manufacturing and assembly processes. In addition, the adhesive often flows from the desired area to undesirable areas, thereby effecting the reliability of both the electrical and mechanical connections, which can result in the failure of the connector.
It would, therefore, be beneficial to provide a connector in which the components can be permanently secured without the use of adhesive. In particular, it would be beneficial to provide a robust integral latch which allows for the components to be securely and permanently mounted in the connector housing.